"Three years in, CalAIM (California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal) has produced real, measurable progress, reaching nearly 453,000 Medi-Cal members through Enhanced Care Management & more than 528,000 through Community Supports since 2022..."

No surprise: receiving payments from device-makers increases physicians' use of the paying company's devices. Add this one to the stack! jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Medical Device Industry Payments and Utilization of Corresponding Devices

This cross-sectional study evaluates the association between device industry payments to physicians and physician utilization of device-associated procedures across multiple specialties.

jamanetwork.com

The actual harsh truth about MAHA is that it is an anti-vaxx, anti-science, pro-diarrhea conspiracy movement. It cloaks its arguments in abstractions about "big pharma" and "free speech" to generate *the exact op-ed The Atlantic keeps publishing*. Movements like this need to be fought, not placated.

Good reminder of how hard it is to access health insurance for people who are disabled by their conditions but in the waiting period for coverage for SSDI/Medicare. The mortality during the wait period for people with cancer (neoplasms) is nearly 40%. www.healthaffairs.org/doi/epdf/10....

Asking for help: are there any publicly available data sources on hospital surgical volume?

Negotiating prices at launch creates more equity among Medicare beneficiaries, ensuring that people who need a drug earlier in the product’s lifecycle are not disproportionately bearing the costs of a medicine. www.healthaffairs.org/content/fore...

Honestly, WTF.

Politico@politico.com · 2w ago

Trump says he will impose tariffs on generic drugs starting in August 2028

"This study provides among the most rigorous evidence to date on receipt of optimal initial therapy [for cancer]...in a nationally representative sample of beneficiaries in MA vs traditional Medicare." Thank-you to our commentators for this kind review! jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Medicare Advantage and Cancer Care

Medicare-eligible beneficiaries have the option of receiving their benefits through traditional Medicare administered by the federal government or through private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans that re...

jamanetwork.com

Aaron Mitchell@thewonkologist.bsky.social · 3w ago

Our new study on cancer care for #MedicareAdvantage beneficiaries is out today in @jamainternalmed.com! We find similar treatment timeliness and quality, but use of cheaper treatments in MA vs. traditional Medicare jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

1st firsthand experience with NHS today: 1) spent an entire day navigating a bureaucratic maze of separate labs, clinics, cash-pay-only pharmacies, and land-line-only phone consults 2) entire bill for same-day consult and Rx, without insurance = $20 Sounds about right

Medical device industry payments to physicians were associated with higher utilization of corresponding devices, with a stepwise increase in procedure volumes as payments rose. ja.ma/3RfJqjq

Coverage of our recent COI study presented at #ASCO26 @ascocancer.bsky.social, finding that oncologists increase cancer drug prescribing after receiving drug company bribes. (in print soon!) www.healthcare-brew.com/stories/phar...

Pharma companies paid providers $14.7 billion in 2025. What does that mean?

These payments can affect everything from prescribing patterns to pharma’s business strategy

healthcare-brew.com

Our new study on cancer care for #MedicareAdvantage beneficiaries is out today in @jamainternalmed.com! We find similar treatment timeliness and quality, but use of cheaper treatments in MA vs. traditional Medicare jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Quality, Cost, and Timeliness of Cancer Treatment in Medicare Advantage and Traditional Medicare

This cohort study compares Medicare Advantage beneficiaries and traditional Medicare beneficiaries newly diagnosed with cancer with regards to timeliness of initial treatment, receiving the optimum in...

jamanetwork.com

Happening now!

Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER)@icer-review.bsky.social · last mo.

Join us for a public meeting on Covid-19 vaccines today, starting at 10 AM ET. Register here: events.zoom.us/ev/AtMtoSCR0...

ADA leaders were forcibly removed from their own meeting for sharing copies of an ADA OpEd critical of Jay Bhattacharya. Thanks to you it's now got >125,000 views. As CDC interim director, Jay also blocked publication of this paper because it showed that COVID vaccines work. You know what to do.

Interim Estimated Effectiveness of 2025-2026 COVID-19 Vaccines in Adults

This case-control study estimates vaccine effectiveness of 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccines among adults with COVID-19–associated emergency department or urgent care encounters and COVID-19–associated hosp...

jamanetwork.com

Nice editorial @thewonkologist.bsky.social & Dr. Nancy Keating about revisiting our priors re: Medicare Advantage for cancer care. While there is reason to be cautious and investigate, current data on MA vs traditional medicare in cancer is far from conclusive. ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/...

Timely, this recent piece in JCO Oncology Practice @ascocancer.bsky.social seems aimed towards helping private practice oncologists understand the implications of selling to their practice to PE firms: ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/...

From Burnout to Buyout: Private Equity's Growing Appeal in Oncology | JCO Oncology Practice

ascopubs.org

Aaron Mitchell@thewonkologist.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I appreciated this thoughtful commentary on our recent (surprisingly "negative") study of private equity's effect on cancer care. I would summarize as: we looked only at one form of harm, and other potential harms have not been excluded. academic.oup.com/jnci/advance...

I appreciated this thoughtful commentary on our recent (surprisingly "negative") study of private equity's effect on cancer care. I would summarize as: we looked only at one form of harm, and other potential harms have not been excluded. academic.oup.com/jnci/advance...

Private equity acquisitions and cancer care: nothing to see here? Not so fast.

Private equity (PE) involvement in the acquisition of health-care practices is rapidly expanding, with more than $750 billion invested over the past decade

academic.oup.com

I appreciate this @jama.com commentary by Knox and @asarpatwari.bsky.social. I'm among the skeptics of the 340B program as it currently operates, but it appears this proposed pilot would not address the major issues. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

340B Drug Pricing

This Viewpoint presents the history of the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) 340B Drug Pricing Program and 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program, summarizes their controversies and limit...

jamanetwork.com

Presenting our new study at #ASCO26 right now! Provider profits on cancer drugs have grown 4-fold to $40 billion in the last decade and a half. @ascocancer.bsky.social @mskcancercenter.bsky.social @hannahrabrams.bsky.social @nihcm.bsky.social

Presenting at #ASCO26 now! Our new study: Bribes from the drug industry can lead oncologists to use WORSE treatments (not just better ones) @ascocancer.bsky.social @mskcancercenter.bsky.social @dusetzinas.bsky.social @commonwealthfund.org @nihcm.bsky.social @arnoldventures.bsky.social

New RCT evidence from @adrianna.bsky.social and coauthors testing effects of work requirements for SNAP Some enrollees get exemptions, others did not Work requirements had very small effects on employment, but large effects on enrollment Preview of what to expect in Medicaid next year #ARM26

Farewell #ARM26! #ASCO26, see you in about 5 hours! @ascocancer.bsky.social @academyhealth.bsky.social

Hey, #ARM2026 attendees. Sorry I can't be with you in Seattle. Fellow some of these great health systems and health policy researchers and those in the know. If you want me to add you, feel free to comment here and I can. #hpss #hspr #hpsr #healthpolicy

I'll be presenting new findings at 2:15 PT today at #ARM26! Our study measured provider profits on cancer drugs (profits have increased, a lot) This looks like a great session, including other new findings on cancer care in MA. See you in ballroom 6C! academyhealth.confex.com/academyhealt...

Excited to present preliminary results from a project that has been ongoing ~since I was a PhD student~ at today's late-breaking #ARM26 session — join us at 4p PT in rooms 613-614.

The webinar recording is now available, below. I'm also looking forward to presenting these findings on Medicare Advantage and cancer care at @academyhealth.bsky.social #ARM26, this weekend! cbiit.webex.com/recordingser...

Meet virtually with Cisco Webex. Anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Webex by Cisco is an AI-powered secure enterprise collaboration platform.

cbiit.webex.com

Aaron Mitchell@thewonkologist.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I'll be presenting some of our recent work on Medicare Advantage and its impacts on cancer care cost and quality, 3pm EST TODAY! Part of ongoing NCI seminar series. Webinar registration at the link below: healthcaredelivery.cancer.gov/media/medica...

Here’s how he blew off 19 kids killed by Covid in 1 month.

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 2mo ago

In normal times, the fact that government officials at HHS blatantly lied to the public and got caught would be a scandal of unusual size. Everyone involved in this disinformation scheme against the people of the United States should be held accountable.

Next week at #ASCO26 @ascocancer.bsky.social I'll be presenting new evidence that industry COI influences which treatments oncologists prescribe...even for the non-so-good ones! www.asco.org/abstracts-pr...

Looking forward to presenting our new study at the @ascocancer.bsky.social annual meeting! We measured the recent, large increase in provider profits on cancer drugs: www.asco.org/abstracts-pr... @dusetzinas.bsky.social @sangerkatz.bsky.social @kffhealthnews.org @dylanlscott.bsky.social

Fixed it

sara g miller@saragmiller.bsky.social · 2mo ago

After reviewing the cases, the FDA reported that no cases were “certain” to be linked to Covid vaccination. The conclusions differ from Prasad’s characterization of the deaths, who said in a November memo that the children died “after and because of receiving” the vaccine. @berkeleyjr.bsky.social